the east coast right now effectively bringing life to a stand still. good morning. i'm willie geist. this is "way too early." hurricane sandy, a massive category 1 storm on a collision course with two other storms. expected to hook west of it taking aim at the northeast coast leaving tense of millions of people hours to prepare. the entire new york city transit system is shut down. schools closed along with those in baltimore, boston, washington, d.c. thousands have canceled flights and commuter trains going nowhere. there's eight days until the presidential election. president obama and mitt romney being forced to change plans as the storm approaches. more on that in just a moment. first, lets ae go right to bill karins for the very latest on this hurricane. bill . good morning to you, willie. new update from the national hurricane center. there was zero good news spread by them. the storm has increased in intensity a little bit. now we're looking at possibly 80

to 90 mile per hour landfall. maybe the storm surge could be a little bit worse. this is not what anyone wanted to hear. the winds are now the up to 85 miles per hour. that's a healthy hurricane. for this time of year it's ridiculous. you don't get these this far north this time of year. it's moving to the north at 15. now only about 350 to 400 miles away from new york city. here's the new forecast path. they shifted it just a little bit south. it was up here in central jersey and now they lowered it a little bit towards wildwood. that's a better forecast for a few spots including philadelphia. it's one of those rare events where the winds will be very weak. you don't mind if this goes over the top of you in philadelphia. if you're to the north of this, atlantic city, long beach island, into the new york city area, all of long island,

coastal connecticut and all of coastal rhode island, this angle of approach piles the water up for 12 to 24 hours. the high tide cycle we're about to approach will be very impressive at day break. the one later tonight between 7:00 and 9:00 right after sunset, that's the one that's going to be destructive and has the possibility to be historical. the center of the storm, we've had an eye feature trying to form. it shows signs of that as the eye. as the storm continues to progress the winds will dramatically pick up. don't be fooled with the winds. they're similar to when you went to bed. as the storm begins to move towards land it will increase this afternoon. the power outage will start in earnest and spread inland this afternoon but especially this evening as this makes landfall. when those 60 to 80 mile per hour gusts hit, trees will come down. high wind warnings from maine to virginia. never seen warnings covering

this much real estate. the winds aren't bad. ocean city maryland, 39. winds are starting to pick up though. atlantic city, new york city, lock island, also out there on cape cod the winds have picked up. there's the final stop looking at the rainfall. again, willie, the greatest concerns is this afternoon and evening people losing power and then that high tide cycle when all of that storm surge comes in. that's when the destruction will be done. my recommendation to anyone listening out there now in the target zone, sometime this morning take a nice long, hot shower because there will be millions of people wishing for a hot shower. >> i'm glad you said that about the wind this morning. you stepped outside maybe expecting a little bit more. not much going on this morning. we'll be watching this afternoon and this evening if it's in the t tristate area? >> yes. that's where the winds will double. >> we'll check back in with you for a few minutes. among many other parts of the east coast, residents are evacuating the southern tip of new jersey. you saw it in bill's forecast

getting a big wallop down there. nbc's danielle leigh is in cape may. danielle, good morning. how does it look down there? >> reporter: good morning, willie. right now we are getting drenched in this steady downpour that's been going on all morning. it's causing quite a bit of flooding if you can see behind me. that's not the big concern here for emergency officials. the big concern is what's happening a ways behind me on the beempgs. rising tide possibly up to eight feet. every once in a while we can see the sea spray from the waves as the tides get turning. nobody is out. if they didn't follow the evacuation orders, they're staying inside and are hunkered down. many hoping the boarded up windows will hold. we know this will get just worse. this is just the beginning of the storm. we're already hearing about some problems with flooding, power outages emergency officials say when this starts, they won't be

able to get to you. be ready for up to two weeks without power. we are talking about a long haul for people who decided not to follow evacuation orders. reporting live, i'm danielle leigh. willie, back to you. thanks so much. the storm headed your way. business far from usual in new york city where low lying coastal areas are under evacuation orders. new york stock exchange operating electronically. here's how you know this thing is big. we're told not a single starbucks in manhattan is serving coffee right now. cnbc's scott cohn is live in lower manhattan. much more on how new yorkers are preparing. scott, good morning. >> reporter: that really hurts, willie. this is the deceptive calm that bill was talking about earlier. kind of a stiff breeze here. where i am it's at the battery in lower manhattan will almost certainly be underwater. let me give you an update on the financial markets. no matter what happens, there

already is an economic impact. initially the plan yesterday was that the new york stock exchange would stay open electronically. that has changed. as of late last night they're closing all markets, electronically and otherwise. so many of the firms, the people would have to get into their offices. a lot of offices are in evacuation areas. they're closing it today and possibly tomorrow. that's the first one day weather related closure since hurricane gloria since 1985. if they close it two days, that is the tentative plan, it would be the first two-day closure of the new york stock exchange since 1888. they do not like to close those mark markets. they are taking an abundance of caution. the financial markets are shut down as we start hunkering down. >> no electronic trading either. thanks. we appreciate that. today, president obama will be balancing the

responsibilities of both president and political candidate. he's set to join former president clinton at a campaign event in orlando before returning to the white house to take care of what's going on with hurricane sandy. as far as the election goes, mitt romney is leading president obama in florida. when you break it down in central florida where the president needs a boost, he trails there along the i-4 corridor by six points according to a "tampa bay times" pole. miami dade county has him up 52% to 43%. president obama is up. in old dominion the latest washington post poll has president obama hanging on to a four-point lead. last month it was an eight point spread in virginia. in the buckeye state, a new ohio

news poll has it dead even 49-49. any advantage the president had, five points, is now gone. on the trail yesterday mitt romney forced to change course his self because of the storm. after canceling three rallies in virginia, he teemed up with his running mate in ohio telling supporters only a ryan/romney could bridge the divide. >> we have to reach across the aisle. we have to find good democrats. democrats love america too. we have to reach across the aisle, find ways to bring in people from the other party, work together, collaborate, meet regularly and fight for the american people and we will. >> with democrats hammering mitt romney's opposition to the auto bailout especially in ohio, the republican candidate using a new ad to counter punch on what could be a decisive issue. >> who will do more for the auto industry? not barack obama. fact checkers concern his

attacks on mitt romney are false. the truth? mitt romney has a i plan to help the auto industry. he's supported by lee iacocca and the detroit news. obama took gm and chrysler into bankruptcy and sold chrysler into china aen the italians. >> that ad is drawing an awful lot of heat that chrysler is outsourcing its jeep production into china. they say they have no intention of shifting american production overseas but there are talks of putting a jeep assembly plant in china to serve the growing demand, not to close one here in the united states in order to make way for the one in china. for the first time in 40 years iowa's largest new hampshire endorsing a republican. they cited his flesh economic vision.

although they supported president obama in 2008, they're saying romney is more likely to work across the aisle. the paper asked which candidates could forge the compromise. when it's asked like that, mitt romney is the one they believe. romney has made rebuilding the economy his number one campaign priority and rightly so. that's from the des moines register. obama deputy campaign manager stephanie cutter dismissed the endorsement yesterday morning. it was a little surprising to read that editorial because it didn't seem to be based at all in reality. not just in the president's record but in mitt romney's record. it says he'd reach across the aisle which he'd do the exact opposition. over the course of running for president over this last six years he's never once stood up to the far extreme right wing. >> in an editorial last week the paper publicly chided the white house for insisting that the

president's conversation be kept off the record. the register insisted that had no bearing on the endorsement decision. over the weekend president obama made a campaign stop in new york, a state with pour electoral votes. could make a bit of a difference. joe and mika caught up with the press backstage about one issue that has become a problem. the attack of benghazi in libya. >> the intell? the stories keep changing. >> that's what we're going to find out from the investigation, but the truth is is that, you know, across the board when this happened my number one priority was secure americans. figure out what happened. bring those folks to justice. we are in the process of doing that right now. congress has been getting the flow of information continuously from day one and, you know what, what my attitude on this is, is

if we find out that there was a big breakdown and somebody didn't do their job, they'll be held accountable. >> you'll see joe and mika's full interview with president obama over the weekend in new hampshire straight ahead on "morning joe." still ahead on "way too early," if you blinked you missed the world series. the san francisco giants pulling off the sweep. and the very latest on the path of hurricane sandy which has shut down big swathes of the east coast. when is it coming your way? we'll have an updated forecast when "way too early" comes right back. a couple of toner cartridges, the kinds we all have in our offices with at least some form, some amount of explosives on them apparently sent via cargo from yemen

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5:46 in the morning in new york city. this is the calm before the storm right outside our building in rockefeller plaza. we're waiting for hurricane sandy to turn left and come on shore in new jersey later today. much more on sandy's path in a minute with bill karins. while the east coast was locked in on that hurricane, they were celebrating a world series title last night clear across the country. the san francisco giants were one win away from sweeping the tigers out of the world series and taking their second world series in the past three years. pick it up in the bottom of the third, giants up 1-0. miguel cabrera going the other way. sneaks it over the right field wall, two run home run.

tigers find some offense. 2-run lead. buster posey just hammers one into left field. that's a two run home run. first of the world series for posey. giants on top 3-2. the clock is ticking for the tigers. delmon young comes through, a solo home run off matt cain. that ties the game at 3-3. they stayed tied through 9. we go to extras. top of the tenth. two outs for marco scutaro. traded to the giants mid season. delivers with a base hit to center field. austin jackson fields it on the hop. comes up throwing but it's not in time. giants take a 4-3 lead. bottom of the tenth with two outs, giants one strike away from the world series title but with triple crown winner miguel cabrera at the plate, a home run would tie this up. joe buck with the call. >> again, the 2-2 pitch. got him looking and the giants have won it all.

>> sergio romo brings cabrera ringing him up for the final out of the game. the giants sweep the tigers with a 4-3 win in ten. pablo san doe val, kung fu panda, is named mvp. thousands of fans in san francisco's mission district celebrating the world series title. caused street closures. one little fire. the giants becoming something of an unlikely dynasty. first national league team to win two world series titles in a three year span since the big red machine did it in 1975 and 1976. over in the nfl, broncos hosting the saints in denver. the nbc game. pick it up in the second quarter. peyton manning, eric decker, 14 yards. manning 3 touchdowns. the broncos route the saints 34-14. they're 4-3.

saints fall to 2-5. giants and cowboys, 16 seconds to go in the fourth. down five. tony romo throws up one for dez bryant in the back of the end zone. bryant comes down with it. looks like go-ahead touchdown maybe but the play reviewed shows bryant's fingertips coming down out of bounds. the touchdown overturned. giants hang on for 29-24 win. giants 6-2. cowboys 3-4. the other new york team, there is one, ugly performance. jets in the red zone trying to get some points on the board, sanchez intercepted by chris clemens. the jets loss 30-9 at home. jets now 3-5. last place in the afc east. after the game mark sanchez tried to explain why the calls for touchdown to replace him at quarterback don't bother him. >> playing in a big market. this is, you know, a grown man's game. you've got to play tough.

you know, they want results. we're not playing well so they're going to call for somebody else. doesn't matter. i just happen to be in the spot so that's the way it goes, but i don't really think about it. it doesn't really bother me at all. i'm just playing. >> a lot of people wondering when and if tebow will get a shot to back up sanchez. falcons on the road. matt ryan, julio jones hits him in stride. 63 yards. falcons win 30-17 behind ryan's three touchdown passes. they're 7-0. eagles drop to 3-4. the steelers wearing their heinous throwback uniforms hosting the redskins. third quarter, redskins going to antonio brown. he'll weave his way through traffic. just a punter now. no. no. 20 yards alone backward into the end zone. wow. 78 yards for the touchdown. but nullified when with an

illegal blocking penalty. steelers got at 27-12 win. we showed the backward moon walk but it didn't countries count. a shakeup at the top with the bcs standings. the new bcs standings have alabama at number one for the third straight week followed by kansas state number two, notre dame jumps to three, oregon number four, lsu at five. don't forget, you can e-mail me at "way too early" at msnbc.com. tweet me. i want to know why you're up way too early. coming up at the top of the hour on "morning joe", joe and mika talk to president obama in new hampshire over the weekend. we're now just eight days away from the presidential election. their interview in just a few minutes. when we come back here, we'll huddle around the water cooler and get an update from bill karins on hurricane sandy. "way too early" will be back.

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the mid-atlantic region preparing to bear the brunt of hurricane sandy today as a massive storm continues to work its way up the east coast this morning. hurricane sandy, a category 1. history tells us storms of this magnitude that hit the east coast can cause billions of dollars of damage. according to the national hurricane center, two of the ten costliest storms in u.s. history have been category 1 hurricanes that have targeted the

northeast. last summer's hurricane irene cost more than $15.8 billion in damages after hitting an area from north carolina to maine. in 1972 hurricane agnes did more than $11.7 billion of damage. it went from florida to long island, new york. let's check in with bill karins. he is a upstairs. where is it now and where is it headed in the next few hours? it's amazing it's safely off the shore. it's not causing too much damage or chaos yet. we'll watch landfall this evening probably around 8 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. that's when the destruction will be done during the high tide cycle and the winds. this morning is not horrible. here's the new forecast in the hurricane center. it increases in intensity. it could go up to 90 miles per hour. a healthy category one just off the "jersey shore." it will make the hook. the unusual historic cal hook to the left into the jersey shore. the winds will be in the center

including from the central jersey shore. possibility of 80 mile per hour winds. we may be out there on the tip of long island, somewhere on the south shore be able to get a gust to 90. that's very, very rare and all of interior sections you'll get hit with winds from 50 to 60 miles an hour. the rainfall with this system is not my huge concern. there's been this strong band across the chesapeake. baltimore, maryland, all the way through delaware, dover, wilmington, you have a concern for flooding and the heavy rains. the rest of new england doesn't look too bad. this is one of our computers giving you the timing of it. this is at 5:00 a.m. as we advanced it. the center of that itching isle shows you where the hurricane is going to be located right there at 7 cl:00 p.m. this evening. all of the water is going to pile up just like this, long island sound and that's when we're going to have the biggest

concern. that high tide is at 8:00. willie, the bottom line is everyone is going to feel the winds, widespread power outages. high tied will be at 8:00 a.m. we'll at two to three feet from what you see this morning tonight. don't be followed. i fooled. bipol bill, thanks so much. "morning joe" just minutes away. nope! good talk. bill, thanks so much. "morning joe" just minutes away. . bill, thanks so much. "morning joe" just minutes away. . bill, thanks so much. "morning joe" just minutes away. . bill, thanks so much. "morning joe" just minutes away. . bill, thanks so much. "morning joe" just minutes away. . bill, thanks so much. "morning joe" just minutes away. . bill, thanks so much. "morning joe" just minutes away. . bill, thanks so much. "morning joe" just minutes away. . bill, thanks so much. "morning joe" just minutes away. . bill, thanks so much. "morning joe" just minutes away. up isn't easy, and we ought to know. we're in the business of up. everyday delta flies a quarter of million people while investing billions improving everything

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